


No One Has to Know

by thelonebamf



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:42:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6847534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelonebamf/pseuds/thelonebamf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After running away from home, Hal finds himself in a strange city with no money, no friends and nowhere to go. When a stranger appears out of the blue and gives him a ride and a bed for the night it seems his luck has finally taken a turn, although whether it's for the better remains to be seen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

After the fourth car veered a little too close to the sidewalk and drenched him from the knees down with muddy water, Hal started to suspect it was no mere accident. Though he wished he could be surprised, Hal had become rather used to being a favorite target of bad luck and it seemed that not even a change of location could help him avoid that.

 

It might have helped if he knew just where this “new location” was, but he’d fallen fast asleep on the bus he’d taken out of town only to be rudely awakened as the driver informed him this was the last stop. As he’d pulled his well-worn hoodie around his shoulders and peered out into the night, the only thing he could tell immediately was that this was definitely the “wrong” part of town. Whatever town this was, anyway.

 

The weight of his bag on his shoulder was light at least, which meant he could navigate the streets quickly though he had no idea where he was going. He’d yet to see anyone that looked inclined to give him directions either, and the only convenience store he’d seen had heavy bars on the doors and windows that didn’t inspire confidence.

 

Sighing heavily, he stood on the corner of the best lit crosswalk he could manage, peering out into the darkness in the hope of finding some kind of direction.

 

He winced preemptively as the headlights of another car headed towards him, expecting another splash of water from the gutter, but instead the driver slowed enough to avoid creating a mess.

 

He seemed to have stopped entirely, actually.

 

As Hal saw the window roll down, he pulled back a few inches holding his bag tight to his chest.

 

“I… I’m sorry. I can’t give you any directions. I’m looking for a way out of here myself,” he shouted into the open window, coughing at the sudden whiff of cigarette smoke.

 

For a moment, he was met only with silence. Finally a gruff voice answered. “You need a ride then? Get in.”

 

Hal considered his options. On the one hand, there was a chance the driver of this very expensive looking car was a perfectly nice person who wanted to help out a stranger. There was also a very real possibility that he was some kind of serial killer who was wanted in twenty-eight states for murder and cannibalism.

 

The sound of police sirens in the distance erased any train of logical thought he might have been considering and he was soon in the passenger’s seat shrinking into the soft leather of the seat.

 

“Buckle up.”

 

\--

As he stood in the absolutely decadent hotel suite, Hal realized he’d never actually given the man any directions. His heart had been in too great a danger of pounding outside of his chest for him to even think about speaking, visions of possible imminent and graphic death so vivid in his mind it had been a relief when they simply pulled in front of the hotel, and the man busied himself with handing the keys over to the valet, who stared at Hal until he awkwardly rose from his seat.

 

The man had offered no explanation, whether this was his destination for the evening or just a stop on his way to taking Hal… well he had no idea really, with nowhere to go and just over thirty dollars in his battered wallet. But he made no comment when he followed him inside, and seemed to be holding the elevator doors until Hal saw fit to join him.

 

Still clutching his small duffel close, Hal had finally taken a moment to examine his would-be savior. He was tall, dark haired, several years older than himself and seemed intent on keeping his gaze fixed straight ahead at all times. Hal had done his best to follow suit.

 

And now he was here. The warm lamp light and soft smell of freshly laundered sheets a far cry from the dark street corner he’d been on only moments ago, and yet he still felt just as lost.

 

“You should probably take a shower.”

 

Hal swallowed nervously as the man emerged from the bathroom, towel low on his hips, droplets of water still clinging to his hair.

 

It was certainly tempting. After having spent the better part of a day on the bus his neck and back were sore and his jeans, still wet with roadwater were beginning to cling unpleasantly to his legs.

 

“A...are you sure it’s alright?”

 

“Go for it. Towels and robe on the rack.”

 

He took another few seconds to consider, but as the stranger disappeared again, presumably to find his nightclothes, Hal decided it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

He turned the spigot on high and soon the bathroom was filled with steam that was already doing wonders to calm him. As the water streamed over his head and shoulders he found that for the first time in recent memory he was actually able to relax.

 

The feeling of calm was short lived however, when he emerged from the shower to find his pile of laundry nowhere to be found. He did his best to towel himself off and wrapped a robe tightly around himself before daring to emerge back into the main room.

 

“Um. Sorry. My… my clothes they’re…”

 

“Sent them to be cleaned. You’ve got another change in that bag of yours, don’t you? But it’s getting to be pretty late so…might be a good idea to go ahead lie down.”

 

So at least he had a place to crash for the night.

 

“Wow um. Okay. Yeah that sounds good...uh… sorry, this is all great but… I didn’t catch your name?”

 

There was a single huff of laughter before he responded. “Alright then. I’m David.”

 

“David. I-I’m Hal.”

 

He got a faint smile at that. “Good one.”

 

Hal nodded with sudden understanding. “Oh… ha- yeah. Guess so. Well then I’ll just…” he nodded in the direction of the bedroom and quickly disappeared, taking his bag with him.

 

Soon he was dressed comfortably in a fresh t-shirt and a pair of loose boxers and had pulled the blankets over him, trying his best to sort out what the hell he would do in the morning. If he was honest with himself, his prospects were slim. He’d taken off with little preparation, his life having finally become too overwhelming. What had begun as a short trip to clear his head had landed him here, somewhere in Philadelphia, he’d finally managed to sort out.

 

He was essentially broke, determined not to spend any of his remaining cash on anything that wasn’t strictly necessary. Maybe things would look better in the morning.

 

He’d almost fallen asleep when a sudden weight on the other side of the bed caused him to snap to attention. Of course, it would have been foolish to imagine the David would give up his bed in addition to everything else he’d done, but he couldn’t keep his shoulders from tensing. Despite his best efforts to relax he couldn’t help but feel that David was a little closer than he had to be and…

 

...and that was definitely a hand running down the length of his arm.

 

Hal froze and did his best not to panic and he almost managed until he felt David’s breath against his neck, gentle kisses trailing up from his shoulder to his ear.

 

“Hal-”

 

He’d be lying if he said hearing David’s voice call his name was wholly unpleasant. That sigh just now, had that… come from him?

 

“Hal. I like that name… did you choose it for me?”

 

A sudden wave of understanding flooded over him like ice all the way to his core. Even more unsettling was the fact that he wasn’t sure he could stop David if he wanted to.

 

“David?”

 

“Like it when you say my name…”

 

“W--what are you doing?”

 

“Just… touching you… tasting you… you taste like…”

 

“No I m-mean… what are you doing?”

 

The following silence was absolutely stifling, growing worse by the minute until it was finally broken by the gentle click of a lamp.

 

“I um… I mean… I appreciate you letting me use the shower and giving me a place to crash and look if I can pay for the laundry I… I will…”

 

_God, please don’t make me pay for the laundry._

 

“You…”

 

“Um.”

 

“You’re not a…”

 

“Sorry. Did I… do something to...give you that impression?”

 

“Oh my god.”

 

David threw the single sheet covering him off and rose immediately from the bed, hands frantically seeking out a pack of cigarettes from the bedside table.

 

“I- I’m sorry, David I…”

 

“What the hell were you doing hanging out in that part of town at this hour?”

 

Hal cowered slightly, feeling guilty for what had clearly been his fault. “I… I was lost. Got kicked off a bus and just wandered around until… well… well what part of _this_ exactly,” he gestured wildly at himself, “screams ‘prostitute’?”

 

David rolled his eyes and lit the cigarette hanging from his lips. “Dunno. The way you were standing there, nervous and scared and… just thought it was your ‘thing’, y’know? Gimmick or something. S’cute.”

 

Hal didn’t know what to make of that so he decided it was better not to say anything and instead busied himself with getting dressed, pulling on a pair of pants and socks. He realized his faithful hoodie was nowhere to be found, having probably also ended up in the hotel laundry but…it was an acceptable loss he supposed.

 

_I mean no, not really. It’s freezing outside and you haven’t got so much as cardboard box to sleep in._

 

“Look I… I’m really sorry about the… the confusion. I’ll just… I’ll go, okay?”

 

He hoisted his bag over his shoulder once more and made his way towards the door as quickly as possible.

 

And if Hal heard David calling his name from his place on the bed, he didn’t let it slow him down.


	2. Chapter 2

Hal ran his fingers up and down the strap of his bag, fingernails making a soft thrumming against the textured fabric. He couldn’t help tapping his foot as he kept his eyes on the glowing numbers of the elevator, each one counting down another regret.

 

Though he tore out of the doors into the lobby so quickly he nearly tripped, once he was out on the floor he was hit with the reality that he had nowhere to go. The idea of just walking around until daylight was laughable even if he’d had his jacket. And if he managed to make it through the night, then what? It wasn’t as though he had a plan for the following day either.

 

All he’d wanted was a break from his life, to escape it all if only temporarily. In the end he’d only exchanged one set of problems for another. And if he wasn’t careful, this new set might land him in some serious trouble.

 

_And what exactly would you call the last half hour? 'Fun' trouble?_

 

Groaning to himself, Hal scanned the lobby for inspiration. Exhausted, aimless, and a little scared the best idea he could manage at this hour was to take refuge in the hotel bar and see how long he could successfully nurse a drink.

 

He cringed as he passed over the small stack of crumpled bills to the bartender. Six dollars for a glass of ginger ale was highway robbery, but the way he saw it he was out of options. He smiled wearily and placed another dollar in the tip jar, doing his best to look as though he belonged here. Hal took a seat in a far corner of the bar where he hoped to be quickly forgotten and sipped at his drink. He might have even found his booth comfortable if he wasn’t so on edge.

 

Gripping the sides of his glass tightly he watched the ice cubes melt and tried to catalogue his over growing list of problems. And at that moment the most recent of them chose to walk through the door.

 

David didn’t notice him, or chose to ignore him if he did, opting instead for a seat at the bar. Slinking down into his seat, Hal could still keep an eye on him without being too obvious. As the minutes passed he forgot his own drink as he watched David down two of his own and order a third, alternating between watching the television on the wall and making easy conversation with the bartender.

 

If he hadn’t just fled from the man’s room after a spectacular misunderstanding, Hal supposed he might have found him handsome or charming even. He was leaning on the bar with a relaxed posture and swirling his drink in its glass but Hal thought he could see a slight tension just around his eyes.

 

After taking another swift drink from his glass, Hal stood from his spot and crossed the short distance to the bar, taking a seat next to David as he tried to think of what he wanted to say. It would be nice to get his hoodie back, at least.

 

“So you’re still here then?”

 

Hal turned sharply, but David was staring straight ahead as he finished his drink.

 

“S-so what if I am?”

 

David shrugged. “It’s a free country.”

 

Hal found himself moving straight past frightened and humiliated and right on to feeling downright annoyed.

 

“Well I… it’s been… I don’t know I thought maybe if I hung around long enough maybe I’d get my stuff back.” It was at least partially true.

 

“Ah, I see.” David nodded. “Well it’s going to be sixty for the dry cleaning, so…”

 

The look of panic was clear on Hal’s face.

 

“Don’t worry about it though,” he grinned over the top of his drink. “I’m sure we can think of a way for you to pay me back. How 'bout it? No one has to know.”

 

Hal slammed his glass down onto the bar and stood so quickly he nearly knocked the stool over.

 

“Y-you… fucking…”

 

He was fully intent on storming out the door when he felt something grab him by his arm.

 

“Hal,” David sighed. “That was a joke. Sit down. Of course you can have your things back.”

 

Hal took a few seconds to read his expression, which lacked any of its earlier wryness. He begrudgingly returned to his seat, frown set on his face.

 

“That’s better.”

 

After another minute, Hal finally asked the question that had been on his mind since David had walked through the door.

 

“So… do you… I mean is this a thing you do often?”

 

“Stay up late drinking? Sure. All the time.”

 

Hal rolled his eyes. “Not that, come on. You know. Picking up…” his eyes darted to the far end of the bar where the barkeeper was polishing some glasses, “...guys you run into.” It seemed strange to say the least. David was good looking, appeared well-off and if his interactions from before were anything to go by he lacked none of the all-consuming awkwardness that had made it difficult for Hal to get far in that area.

 

“I know what you meant,” David said briskly. “And the answer is the same.” He didn’t turn to look at Hal, but appeared to know exactly what was written all over his face. “My last few relationships…” He hummed to himself. “This is just easier.”

 

Crazy as it sounded, Hal thought he actually understood to some degree. He was in no real position to judge, every personal relationship of his own having lead to disaster.

 

“Heh, probably sounds crazy, right?”

 

“N-no.” Hal shook his head. “No. I get it.”

 

That earned him a raised eyebrow and another low rumble of laughter.

 

“Come on. Let’s go back upstairs.” He reached into his pocket and placed a few bills on the bartop as he rose from his seat.

 

A flicker of uncertainty began to grow inside Hal. “I… I told you I’m not…”

 

“Yeah I know. You’ve made that abundantly clear,” Dave said, cutting him off. “But unless I’m mistaken you also don’t have a place to stay for the night and your things won’t be ready til noon besides.”

 

Hal continued to fidget in his seat.

 

“There’s a sofa in the main room. Looks comfortable.”

 

“You’re going to sleep on the sofa?” Hal asked, taken aback.

 

“No,” David scoffed. “But you can. If you want.”

 

“...and…” Hal began uncertainly.

 

“And we forget the rest of it.”

  
Too tired to argue with David and glad for the offer of a warm place to sleep for the night Hal nodded in agreement and followed him back upstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

 

The sound of running water a few feet away woke Hal in the morning. He grimaced at the light pouring in the window, guessing it was somewhere after ten in the morning. With a groan, he pulled the borrowed blanket and rolled over, pressing his face against the cushions of the sofa.

 

Only a few hours had passed, and the sleep he’d managed to get hadn’t exactly been restful. Being ejected from the room and back onto the street wasn’t exactly a great way to start the day.

 

“Hal.”

 

Maybe he could just pretend he was still asleep? Forever?

 

“Hal. Come on, I can tell you’re not asleep.”

 

Reluctantly, he pulled the sheet low enough to uncover his head, and looked up bleary eyed into what he assumed was the annoyed face of his host. 

 

“I know, I know. I’m up. Getting up. Slowly. Sorry.”

 

He dragged himself upright, though every muscle in his body protested and began fumbling at the end table in an effort to find his glasses before David handed them to him.

 

“Good morning.”

 

“Yeah. Hi. Um. I should go, yeah? Or no. Wait. What time is it? Do I just… wait downstairs for my things?” Hal threw his covers aside on the sofa, remembering just a few seconds too late that he’d cast off his jeans in the middle of the night. 

 

“Shit. Um.” Flustered, he wrapped himself back up in the blanket, fashioning a hood around his head and shoulders to hide the growing embarrassment on his face. At least David was refusing to meet his eyes.

 

“Just… just give me a second and I’ll be out of your hair and go-” somewhere. Probably. 

 

“You don’t have to leave,” David said quietly as he turned away, giving Hal a chance to grab his jeans and sneakers from the floor.

 

“Sorry?”

 

David sighed and risked a quick glance over his shoulder. “I- still feel pretty bad about this whole… misunderstanding. And I presume your situation didn’t magically improve overnight?”

 

The silence answered the question clearly enough.

 

“I’ll be in town for the next two weeks, sofa’s yours for that time if you want it. Or feel free to leave today. Honestly I wouldn’t blame you for being in a hurry.”

 

Hal half expected him to linger by the sofa, perhaps giving a drawn out speech about not caring whether he stayed or went. Or perhaps he’d swear Hal to secrecy, citing his wealth and status as reasons enough to keep quiet about what had happened the night before.

 

Instead, he was surprised to see the man take a seat at the table on the far side of the room and silently take up a handful of documents from the stack that covered it. 

 

For a moment, Hal considered bolting then and there, or at least as soon as housekeeping returned with his laundry. On the other hand, he didn’t have any decent prospects in town as far as finding a place to stay and he wasn’t ready to go home just yet. Crashing on a stranger’s sofa was practically a vacation. And he didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger from David, who was by all accounts eager to forget their ‘misunderstanding’.

 

“If… I mean… that’s not too weird? Is it really… okay for me to be here?” 

 

David rolled his eyes and turned his head to look at Hal, still half covered in his makeshift shroud. He gave a shrug and turned back to his work. “Just keep quiet while I’m working and remember to take a key when you go out.”

 

Out. 

 

Right.

 

Honestly, Hal would have been satisfied to hole up in a corner of the room, pecking away at his computer for the next several days or however long it took for him to build up the courage to call home. He didn’t relish the idea of asking for money while carefully navigating an explanation as to how he ended up in another city, another  _ state _ even without mentioning being picked up by a well meaning businessman who thought he was some kind of niche interest streetwalker.

 

“Right. I’ll just… make myself scarce then. So I don’t get in the way. Find a uh, library or something.”

 

“Or you could go get us something to eat.”

 

“Oh, um sure. I can do that. Let me just….” Hal shifted awkwardly, eyeing his bag and wondered where he might be able to find food for the two of them, and how he’d be manage to afford it. But before he could grab the battered wad of cash in the bottom of his bag, David was already pulling out his wallet and handing him a modest stack of bills. 

 

“Doesn’t matter what, just so long as it’s half decent.”

 

Hal stared down at the money in his hands, wondering how it was that Dave trusted him with it, or whether the man was so well off that a hundred dollars was mere petty cash. He folded the bills neatly and stuck them in his pocket trying to figure out what would be appropriate, vague ideas slowly forming.

 

“I’ll be back soon.”

 

Dave nodded and returned to work.

 

\--

 

“You got cheesesteaks.” 

 

“Y-yeah.” Hal grinned nervously, digging into the brown paper sack already covered in dark spots of grease. The scent of beef, cheese, and onions was already thick in the air, promising good things. “That’s okay right? I didn’t know if you had a favorite place so I got a few different ones. Every guy behind a cart seemed to think he had the best version.”

 

“Hal, there are six sandwiches here.”

 

“Er. Yeah.” He pulled a chair out from the table, now clear of David’s files. “Well I… I felt bad saying no. And how was I to know? Maybe the sixth guy really did have the best cheesesteaks in town.” He rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he was about to get lectured for wasting David’s money, but the man just shook his head with a soft laugh and began unwrapping the nearest bundle.

 

The two of them made pretty decent headway, splitting most of the sandwiches in two and commenting on their various merits. Hal preferred the “Korean fusion” sandwich, finding the bulgogi to be unique amongst the rest of them, but David said he’d have a hard time making it through his afternoon meeting reeking of garlic and let him have the whole of it. 

  
  


Though Hal was rather enjoying their miniature taste-test party, David eventually began packing up his things and left for his appointment.

 

With nowhere to go and nothing to do for a change, Hal was at a loss. He opened up his laptop and began drifting through a log of his usual sites though none of them held his interest for long. After opening and closing the window several times he logged into his email, already imagining the increasingly desperate string of messages that would await him, each one demanding to know where he’d gone, what he was thinking, when he’d return…

 

...it was a bit of a disappointment to find his inbox completely empty.

 

Well not completely. The good people at Anima-Tech.Com had sent him a coupon good for 15% off his next order and he’d received a few comments to his latest post on the MechFan forums but no evidence at all that he’d uprooted himself and run off to another city by accident.

 

Was no one looking for him?

 

Was he not… missed?

 

True, the semester was over, had just ended before he decided to climb on that bus, but… no notes from an advisor about his thesis? No invitations from his classmates to go out for a celebratory drink? 

 

_ You wanted to leave all that behind. Are you really upset that it didn’t follow you here? _

 

He continued jabbing at the keys for a few minutes but found himself growing more frustrated as time went by for reasons he couldn’t put into words. After another half hour he snapped the computer closed and rose with a sense of finality. He’d left town to escape the life that had been suffocating him in Boston, to get a change of perspective. He wasn’t likely to find it like this.

 

Hal still had a considerable amount of change leftover from their cheesesteak free-for-all and David hadn’t asked about the total or the change. Maybe he wouldn’t mind too much if Hal borrowed a few dollars for now, enough to take a train around town so he could walk and clear his head. 

 

Pulling on his freshly laundered hoodie and slinging his bag over his shoulder, Hal left the safe haven he’d stumbled into and went out into the city.

 

\--

 

It was hours later when he returned to the hotel, sun already beginning to set. Though he’d made use of the buses and trains in the city, Hal had spent the better part of his day on foot with no real destination in mind. He’d almost stumbled into one of the city’s historic parks, only realizing it when the busy streets and stark office buildings suddenly gave way to a field of green.

 

Not wanting to spend more of David’s money than strictly necessary, he had steered clear of any museums or other places that were likely to demand an entry fee, but had been surprisingly entertained by simply watching people go about their business. Vacationers were already coming out in droves meaning Hal had no shortage of subjects to study.

 

But as he slipped back through the glass doors of the hotel, Hal found himself weary and ready to rest. 

 

He didn’t know what to make of the sign hanging on the door. 

 

Rubbing the card key between his fingers he stared at the small placard and shifted from foot to foot. He thought of knocking, but that only caused him to worry about what it might be he was disturbing. Was David asleep after a long day? It seemed early for that but maybe he just wanted quiet, or privacy or…

 

_...maybe he’s in there with someone?  _

 

A sudden lurch in his stomach made Hal suddenly uneasy. It wasn’t impossible to imagine was it? After all, David had gone “looking” just a few days before and obviously he’d not had any success so who was to say he hadn’t returned to the room after a more productive evening. 

 

Hal swallowed hard and returned to the elevator, jabbing the lobby button repeatedly with his finger.

 

_ I can come back in the morning. Or maybe a couple of hours? How long does it take to… _

 

He paled a little as his mind was filled with unbidden images of David laid out across the hotel bed, leaning over the dark form of an anonymous stranger, hungry look in his eyes.

 

And yet it was somehow more unsettling when he remembered the easy laughter and smile from across the table earlier that day.

 

He did his best to clear his mind of everything David over another ludicrously priced glass of soda to no avail, but at least it gave him a way to pass the time. Better to sort himself out here, away from… whatever was happening upstairs.

 

“Drowning your sorrows?”

 

Hal looked up into the face of a very beautiful, dark-haired woman who was making herself comfortable in the seat next to him. He glanced around to make sure she was actually speaking to him, not knowing why anyone would bother.

 

“No. I just… needed some time to think.”

 

“I see,” she smiled sweetly. “The look on your face had me thinking you might have just had a fight. Your girlfriend?”

 

“N-no! I… don’t have a…”

 

“Really? That’s a surprise.” The woman turned slightly in her seat, just enough to allow her to lean a few inches closer. “I think you’re quite handsome. Especially if you lost the glasses.” She reached out and gently pulled the glasses away from Hal’s face, folding them and tapping the frames lightly against her lips. “Hm. Yes. Very handsome.”

 

Hal could feel his cheeks warming under the directness of her gaze and the awkward feeling was only compounded when she placed her hand on his.

 

“So not a fight? Then what has you down here looking so sad and lonely?”

 

“I… uh…” Hal stammered, feeling more unsure by the minute. Though he’d never met this woman before something about the situation was uncomfortably familiar. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

 

“Oh I see,” she nodded. “Too public, of course. We could go up to my room if you prefer. It’s private and quiet and we could talk.” She smiled again. “Or not.”

 

“Everything alright here?” 

 

Hal’s head shot up and though David’s face was a little blurry, he would recognize his voice anywhere. He exhaled heavily, surprised at how relieved he was to see him.

 

“David! Um. Hi. I was just talking to…”

“Naomi,” the woman filled in, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “And who is this? Friend of yours?”

 

“S-something like that.” Hal looked at his empty glass, the bartop, anything to avoid the questioning looks of the other two. It was a blessing that he couldn’t read their expressions.

 

David looked at Hal and Naomi and finally the glasses she still clasped in her hand.

 

“We should get back to our room.” His voice was low and flat but Hal practically leaped from his seat, in a hurry to leave. He was almost to the door when Naomi called out after him.

 

“Forgetting something?” She waved his glasses in the air.

 

Before Hal could respond, David had snatched them out of her hand. Hal couldn’t be sure, but he thought he might have shot her a dirty look in the process.

 

He breathed a little easier when the two of them were in the elevator again, David handing over the silver frames without a word. The two watched the numbers light up one after another and had made it about halfway to their floor when the question tumbled from Hal’s mouth.

 

“Did you… come looking for me?”

 

“You were gone a long time. When you didn’t come back to the room I got a little… well, you’ve already shown a marked talent for getting yourself into trouble.”

 

Hal felt his face grow hot again.

 

“Should I not have? I’m sorry if I interrupted something down there but it looked like you weren’t...participating.”

 

“No!” Hal nearly shouted as the doors slid open. “No. I mean… I did come back to the room earlier but you were… well I don’t know what. But the sign on the door. Er. That sign, actually.” He pointed at the plastic card still hanging from the knob. “I thought you might be…” He cleared his throat and glanced away. “Um. Occupied.”

 

David sighed as he slipped his key into the slot and opened the door.

 

“That wasn’t meant for you, Hal.” He rolled his eyes as he stepped inside and turned on the lights.

 

Hal couldn’t stop himself from looking around the room, mind attempting to catalogue his surroundings and picking out any signs of another guest, however temporary. But the only thing that had changed since his departure was that David’s files were once again splayed across the table.

 

“But then…?” He turned around, adjusting the glasses on his face as he looked to David. 

 

Clearing his throat, David stepped over the the table and ran his hand over the files. 

 

“I work for a company that specializes in emerging technologies. Not a scientist or a designer myself, mind you. But it’s my job to take the designs from our labs to investors and secure funding so we can develop prototypes and eventually full-scale production.”

 

Hal nodded, still a little unsure of where David was going, but keenly interested.

 

“Let’s just say that more than one large deal has fallen through because a nosy housekeeper overheard a phone conversation they shouldn’t have.” He shrugged. “I should have explained earlier, I’m sorry.”

 

Stunned, Hal simply gaped for a second before shaking his head. “No, no it’s alright I had just imagined…” No, there was no way he could even begin to explain what he’d imagined. “I’m just glad it was something so simple, is all.”

 

He hadn’t made it far in his apology before he was interrupted by a grumbling from his stomach which drew a poorly stifled laugh from Dave.

 

“You wanna order something in?”

 

“Uh. No. That’s okay. I’d rather not pay thirty-seven dollars for a burger but… there’s still two sandwiches leftover from earlier today in the fridge. I’ll just have that.”

 

“Mind if I join you?”

 

Soon the two of them were on the sofa, flicking through a sea of infomercials promising everything from “sexily silky hair” to “the fastest way to chop onions… Guaranteed!” They snorted at the over-the-top delivery as they polished off the cold sandwiches, the microwave having proven too much of a hassle for either of them.

 

Hal awoke some time later, still fully dressed and sitting upright on the sofa with his blanket pulled up over his lap. It was likely from the stress of the evening, the greasy food, or some combination of the two but he’d had the strangest dream. Thought simple, still left him with a fluttering, nervous sensation.

 

He couldn’t remember any words or faces. There were no sounds but distant and muffled voices.

  
But there was the feeling, so vivid and real- of fingers gently ruffling through his hair.


	4. Chapter 4

The light coming in from the window told Hal that it was at least ten in the morning, and the rooms were full of a silence that could only mean David had left for the day. That left Hal feeling a little uncertain about what he should do until he returned. Not that he was waiting for him or anything as silly as that, but he couldn’t deny that… time seemed to pass more easily or at least more quickly with someone else around.

 

It made his head hurt to think about so he tried not to, instead shuffling towards the room’s miniature coffee pot, blanket still pulled over his shoulders like a shroud. The morning’s paper was already splayed out across the main table, ‘Business’ and ‘World News’ sections well flattened, but David had also made significant headway into the crossword puzzle as well. 

 

“Zarathustra. Nice one.”

 

He flipped the section over, taking a few minutes to read through the comics although he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually found them funny. Still, he did have a few fond memories of spreading out the Sunday paper on the floor and reading the panels aloud to Emma until they both tired of them and started folding the pages into paper hats and swords. 

 

It was almost enough to make him want to call home. After all it wasn’t Emma’s fault he’d distanced himself from his family, and this wasn’t even the first time he’d felt guilty about leaving without saying a proper goodbye. Then again it was probably ill advised to make any long distance calls from someone else’s hotel room, even if that someone was as patient and well off as David seemed to be. He wasn’t even sure what he would say if he did have the means to phone home. “Hello, how is school? I’m in a strange city with a strange man eating strange sandwiches. Hope you’re well.” Nothing he could think of would go over well, and he wasn’t exactly the best at thinking on his feet. Not in social situations, anyway.

 

Hal was just finishing off the cup of coffee when he heard the door open and saw David walk in, grim look on his face.

 

“Hi!” He called out, feeling a little foolish as he did so, but anything else might be more conversation than the man was interested in. “There’s, uh, coffee if you’d like some.”

 

David nodded and went to pour himself a cup before taking a seat at the table, expression still weighted down by whatever had been bothering him before, though it seemed to have lightened as he took a sip from his cup.

 

A few moments of silence passed between them, Hal shifting awkwardly in his seat. He didn’t know what to say at a time like this, but leaving the table might imply disinterest in David’s mood.

 

And he  _ was _ interested, he realized.

 

“Rough day?” He said at last, softly enough so that if David didn’t answer they could both pretend he hadn’t been heard. 

 

Thankfully, David sighed and nodded, though it was another minute before he decided to speak.

 

“You got anything besides jeans in that bag of yours?”

 

“W-what? I mean? Uh. Socks? And stuff?” Hal looked at his open duffle on the floor and back to David’s face, completely failing to understand. “Why?”

 

David set his cup down and tapped the handle a few times with the edge of his finger. Something about the way he was acting made Hal feel… strange. He was used to seeing him carry himself with a certain amount of confidence, poise even, so he couldn’t help but wonder what could have happened to cause this sudden change.

 

“You think you could go to a party? We can get you something else to wear. Not a suit or anything just something that doesn’t have a Mario on it.” 

 

“This is Cloud Strife.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Nevermind.” Hal sat back in his chair, allowing the blanket to slip down over his shoulder and rest against his elbow. “Is this… I mean before. When you said we’d ‘think of a way’ for me to pay you back…”

 

“What? No.” David managed to look up from his cup and back at Hal, “Nothing like that. There’s just a work… thing. Party probably isn’t even the right word. Drinks and shop talk and…. more drinks, probably. “

 

“So what do you need me for?” 

 

“I don’t need-” David snapped quickly before catching himself and calming slightly. “It’s just better to go with someone else. Keeps it… social. And the last time I went to one of these things I…”  He paused to take another sip from his cup. “I still have a lot of work to do before I leave town. It’s best for me to have someone to make sure I head home on time.”

 

“So this is what, babysitting duty?”

 

David glared at him. “It’s a free dinner.”

 

“Well, I’m in.”

 

* * *

 

As parties went it was probably a good one. Not that Hal had much basis for comparison. He’d visited classmates for LAN parties and videogames a few times in middle school, but by the time high school had rolled around with its serious social demands he found he was out of his depths. His college experience hadn’t been much different with him opting to throw himself into his studies or if he was completely honest, taking a weekend off to binge watch an entire anime series. Or two.

 

At least by the time his sophomore year rolled around he’d figured out he fared better in a single room.

 

But this was a “grown up” party which meant no TV blaring in the corner, no kegs, and annoyingly, almost no food. 

 

Hal stood in the corner holding a tiny plate of cheese cubes and miniature vegetable spears as well as the glass of soda he’d managed to coax out of the lounge’s bartender.

 

By all appearances, David was back to his usual self, smiling and shaking hands with everyone in the room. Hal was impressed at how he seemed to be engaged with every circle he found himself in the middle of, and caught more than one woman eyeing him thoughtfully. He was beginning to remember why he’d avoided these sorts of gatherings in the first place.

 

It wasn’t until Hal was filling his plate with crackers for the third time that he managed to overhear something that caught his attention. David’s familiar baritone was clear, even from across the room but it was the tidbits he picked out from his companion that interested him.

 

“Never seen anything like it. Shook my hand and everything. Even chirped a little song, they said it was a children’s nursery rhyme, but I didn’t know it. Something Japanese I assume.” 

 

Hal found himself edging closer bit by bit, overing on the outskirts of the circle where an older man was cheerfully recounting his experience, although he seemed puzzled by the entire affair. 

 

“They were damn proud of it, and I can’t say I blame them. Walking on its own, even communicating, well, taking orders anyway. They would call out to it ‘Eito! Eito! Walk ten paces. Eito take a seat. Eito, shake the man’s hand.’” He chuckled to himself. “It was kind of cute, even if it did look a bit like a mini-Robocop.” 

 

“Was this their eighth model?” David guessed. “ ‘Eito’ sounds a bit like ‘eight’.”

 

“No, no, they said it was the third version. ‘Eito 3.0’ but I never found out what the name was supposed to mean.”

 

“It means eight.” Hal interjected, a little more loudly than he would have liked, especially when everyone in the crowd turned to look at him.

 

“Weren’t you listening, boy?” The man frowned. “I just said-”

 

Hal nodded quickly, “No, no I know. But- well there’s other reasons for the name. You mentioned it looked like a tiny Robocop? I’ll bet that’s not a coincidence.”

 

“Not following you.”

 

“Ah um…” Hal shot a glance to David who seemed just as bewildered as he was, giving him only a shrug and a vague gesture that he should continue.

 

“Uh you see, back in the 60’s there was a popular Japanese character named 8-Man. He was a cyborg, maybe the first one in Japanese fiction. And he was a special law agent as well. A lot of people think he might have inspired the character of Robocop down the line, since the show came to the states in the 80’s.” Hal spoke quickly, unsure of how long he had before their interest waned.

 

“So you’re telling me this lab spent millions of dollars on what, a cartoon robot man?” The man snorted. “Seems like a waste of money.”

 

“N-no of course not,” Hal answered, wavering only slightly. “There’s a bit more to it than that. The uh- number eight holds a lot of significance as a symbol in Chinese and Japanese mythology, which is probably why it was used in comics like that. It represents harmony and… and balance. Which uh, might be important if you’re working on a bipedal machine.”

 

“...a joke then.”

 

“Maybe just a little.” Hal smiled slightly. “Japanese engineers are people too. And I wager more than a few of them became interested in robotics after developing a fascination with those very cartoons as children. I mean… I did.”

 

There was a moment of stunned silence and Hal worried he’d ruined the evening for himself and David as well.

 

But his fears of being dumped onto the street were soon dispelled as the old man began to laugh, nodding as he turned from the crowd. “Is that right? Tell me more, ah… sorry, didn’t catch your name before.”

 

“H-Hal,” he stammered, looking back at David, now more flustered than before as he was led to a nearby set of chairs. “Uh… w-well, Japan was the first country to successfully create a bipedal r-robot. And Japanese cartoons played a big part in that…”

* * *

 

“You know, you were supposed to reel _ me _ back in at a reasonable hour.”

 

“Mmf. S-sorry.” Hal opened his eyes as he turned his head to face David who was sitting on the edge of the bed, loosening his tie.

 

“Heh. It’s alright. Rather hear you talk about cartoons than listen to the latest company gossip. No shoes on the bed please.”

 

Hal kicked off the dress shoes he’d purchased earlier that day, thankful to be free of their unbroken leather and wondered vaguely if he was meant to keep them after all of this was over. 

 

Whatever this was.

 

“I’m honestly surprised that stuff has never come up before. You know science fiction has been a driving force behind a lot of our recent technological ad-advances.” He yawned. “Reality working to catch up with imagination. Well, I say ‘reality’. I mean all the engineers slaving away in your basement laboratories.”

 

“We only let them out of the dungeon to hand over the latest prototypes,” David grinned. “But I’m usually only concerned with securing the money to see that they actually get made. Doesn’t matter to me where the ideas come from.”

 

“Maybe it should,” Hal sighed deeply, rather enjoying the clean smell of the freshly laundered sheets beneath him. He turned his head just enough to see the light glinting off the wrapper of a peppermint. So that was a thing hotels actually did, after all.

 

“Not sure I have the time in my schedule to watch a whole Evan… Ev..”

 

“Evangelion,” Hal mumbled. “And I’m not saying you have to go full blown ‘otaku’- but… well it wouldn’t hurt to talk to your researchers a little more I bet. Maybe the enthusiasm would be catching. That could only he-help you with your part. You know?”

 

“MIght not be the worst thing in the world,” David stood and began heading towards the bathroom. “Letting a nerd talk my ear off once in awhile.”

 

Hal snorted and let his head fall back onto one of the pillows. 

 

A few minutes later, David returned to the room, freshly showered and having traded his dress shirt and slacks for the loose boxers he normally slept in.

 

“So explain to me again about how the robots aren’t actually robots and the one girl is actually-” 

 

He stopped abruptly at the sight of Hal passed out in the middle of his bed.

 

“Hal?”  He reached out carefully, just enough to graze the collar of his shirt, trailing down the path of delicate stitching.

 

David could have woken him up, could have probably just scooted him to the side and gone to sleep himself. Somehow he didn’t think Hal would mind terribly much, would probably just feel awkward about it the following day. 

 

He lingered a moment longer before sighing and shaking his head, stuffing one of the pillows under his arm before heading to the sofa. He settled into the haphazard nest of blankets Hal had left in his wake and started sifting through the channels on the television, wincing when the volume blared at him for the few seconds it took to find the remote control. 

 

Maybe there wouldn’t be anything in the last half of ‘It Conquered the World” that he could take into the next quarterly finance meeting, but David watched it through to the end. Just in case..

 


	5. Chapter 5

Hal was never what he would have called a “morning” person, but just this once he could see the appeal. Wakefulness had drifted slowly upon him, the soft, but smooth cotton of luxury sheets pressed gently against him by the weight of a downy comforter coaxed him into lingering quiet and still just a little longer. He twisted one leg ever so slightly just side to side, and was reminded that he’d fallen asleep in his new suit. Eyes still closed, he reached one hand out to his side, shifting it out slightly beneath the blankets, surprised to find the bed empty, but more so when he realized he hadn’t expected it to be.

 

He sat up and rubbed a tired hand across the patchy stubble making itself known across his chin. It wasn’t the first time he’d fallen asleep in his clothes, and he felt well rested despite himself. His glasses greeted him from the nightable and he leaned over the empty side of the bed to reach them; the pillow was missing but the spot was otherwise undisturbed.

 

“David?”

 

Hal’s voice was a little raw, he’d ended up talking a lot more at the party than he was used to, rarely in the presence of an audience so intent on his words. It wasn’t often his trove of niche animation trivia came in handy, but David’s colleagues had found it if not informative, then refreshing at least.  

 

He plodded out into the main room, vision still a little hazy with sleep and adjusted the blanket now wrapped around his shoulders as he debated the merits of starting his day with a cup of coffee or a shower. David was nowhere to be seen, but a glance at the sofa revealed the whereabouts of the bed’s other pillow.

 

The hot water did a fair job of waking him up and the cup of coffee (to say nothing of being back in his usual jeans and t-shirt) made him feel more like himself and soon Hal was ready to turn his mind towards the rest of the day.

 

It was unclear whether David would be out until the evening, or whether he was merely at another meeting, and Hal was several minutes into figuring out his plans for either eventuality before he stopped himself. He wasn’t accustomed to planning around other people, with the exception of scheduling meetings with his academic advisors, and doing so now left a strange uneasiness in the pit of his stomach.

 

_It’s just too quiet, is all._

 

The voices from the television helped fill the void and soon Hal felt at ease again, now debating his options for lunch. Unfortunately the cocktail party has been light on the actual food and his stomach was growling loudly in protest.

 

“Guess we already did sandwiches. Pizza maybe?” He said aloud to no one in particular.

 

Within a few minutes he’d placed the call, making sure to order enough for two, as he settled into his spot on the sofa. He didn’t remember leaving the television tuned to what looked like the twentyfour hour retro sci-fi channel, but it seemed like just the thing. Maybe he’d luck into a Godzilla movie or something.

 

There was a faint rattling at the door, drawing his attention- and he’d drawn himself into sort of a half-standing position when David stormed in, jaw set, eyes dark in a way that had Hal slipping back down into his seat.

 

“I need a drink.”

 

Hal nodded, but didn’t move, finding it preferable to coil his arms tightly around himself as he tried to take up as little space as possible. From the corner of his eye he could see David striding purposefully towards the room’s well stocked bar, pouring himself a glass of some amber liquid the hotel surely charged a premium for. And then another.

 

When he was halfway through his third glass, he finally looked over at Hal, still slumped and motionless in his corner of the sofa.

 

Hal could practically feel David’s eyes on him, and shifted slightly before speaking.

 

“I uh, ordered a pizza? Y’know for lunch?”

 

“Yeah, okay. Lunch,” David sighed. “More like a last meal, but I guess pizza’s as good as anything.”

 

“Sorry? Should I not have-?”

 

“No. Whatever. It’s fine.” David finished his glass, setting it down harder than necessary and stared at the half-empty bottle as though hoping it would dare him to finish it off.

 

Hal took a moment to stare blankly at the television screen, silver jumpsuits and rayguns having given over to the usual daytime stream of advertisements. Taking a deep breath, he stood and approached David quietly.

 

“Is something the matter?”

 

David rolled his eyes and shook his head dismissively, but Hal stood firm, determined to get some kind of answer.

 

“Understatement of the year, I’d say.” Dave relented to his inner demons and poured another glass, and took a slow sip, edges of his eyes wrinkling as he let it slide down his throat.

 

“It’s all gone to shit. Investors trying to pull out, said they’d only ever agreed to half the amount, I spent the whole morning in conference calls either begging for more money, or having my ass handed to me when it didn’t work. Didn’t even have a chance to show them the blueprints.” He sighed. “Just as well. No point now.”

 

“But wouldn’t they have to approve the designs in order to-”

 

“We were banking on the full amount. Without it, we can’t complete the project. Months of R&D down the drain.” He raised his glass, saluting the solemn briefcase sitting on the main table.

 

Hal bit his lip, eyes darting between the case and the man before him, intent on drinking himself stupid before noon.

 

“Can I take a look?” The words were out of his mouth before he’d calculated the chances David might say yes.

 

“It’s all garbage now.” David stepped away and threw himself on the sofa, the back of his hand resting over his eyes. “Knock yourself out.”

 

Hal steadied himself before approaching the case, flipping open the golden clasps on either side and allowing it to swing open. The familiar folders were neatly stacked inside, presumably untouched since David had packed them up in the morning. It was a little intimidating, to have his hands on real, practical schematics, the sort that _should_ have garnered millions of dollars in funding, had some last minute business politics not gotten the better of them. As he flipped open their cover, he held his breath, ready to study them with their well deserved reverence. This was applied science. This was the work of professionals.

 

“This is garbage.”

 

“Yeah, thanks very much. I know that, Hal.” David muttered back at him.

 

“No, no I mean-” Hal took a seat at the table, his brow furrowed as he pored over each of the diagrams, his frown deepening with each turned page. “These designs. You might have dodged a bullet. How much money were you looking for?”

 

“Around four million. What are you talking about? What bullet?”

 

Hal continued to glower at the blueprints as though they’d personally offended him, and tried to put his distaste into words.

 

“This is meant for military use? On the field, right? But it’s just not practical.”

 

David pulled himself up from his spot and stared at Hal, then at the papers in his hand, though he could hardly make sense of what he was looking at. He took a seat for himself at the table and scrutinized the diagrams, still unsure of what he was being told.

 

“What do you mean? I was told these Walker Units were using the latest, state of the art robotics.”

 

“Well, that’s true enough,” Hal nodded. “You remember from last night, how tricky it is to nail down bipedal machinery but this,” he laughed, more to himself than aloud. “This is just stupid.”

 

“Look,” he splayed the pages out on the table side by side, tapping at them lightly with the tip of his finger. “I assume these are meant to be used in enemy or at least neutral territory. But the size of these things! You’d be seen coming from miles away! And the pilot is forced to maintain an uncomfortable position for a long period of time with his back and head totally exposed! Even if he did notice someone coming up behind him, this monster has no kind of turn radius. You’d be better off riding in a tank! At least you’d have coverage.”

 

David frowned. “The idea was to aid in infiltration missions.”

 

“In this heap? It’s a walking target! You’d be better off sneaking in on your belly in the shadows like a ninja or something.” Hal sifted through the pages again, a faint hum of disbelief and nervous energy escaping him. “It’s bad engineering, David. Plain and simple. I’m actually glad you didn’t present it. Pour enough money into a hack job like this, it could bankrupt a company.”

 

“Not ideal by any means. I guess this does make me feel a little better,” David admitted, “but it doesn’t do me a lot of real good. There’s no funding, and now I know there’s no product. I might as well cancel my meetings for next week because even if they did change their minds, I’d have nothing to show them.”

 

Despite the fact that he knew he was absolutely correct about the two-legged jalopy he’d kept David from fighting to build, Hal felt guilty. He knew it wasn’t his fault, he’d simply accepted what he was given and done his best to do the job he was hired to do. It wasn’t David’s place to understand the finer points of mechanics and practicality of design, that responsibility belonged to the so-called ‘basement nerds’, those with more degrees than good sense.

 

_People like me._

 

“David?”

 

“What?”

 

“...what if you did?”


	6. Chapter 6

Despite the connections his father had afforded him, David had always been the sort of man who insisted on working for what he had. Of course he had always made full use of the natural charm and cunning bestowed upon him, but prided himself on having worked his way up from the bottom. As such he’d made countless copies, filed away libraries worth of folders and envelopes, and delivered enough late night lattes to fill the Olympic sized swimming pool his brother preferred to spend his free time lounging around.

 

Slipping into the role of Hal’s assistant; however, had presented its own challenges.

 

That wasn’t to say it was anything less than absolutely fascinating, watching the young man shift slowly but completely from the familiar shirking violet David had come to know into a serious and thoughtful designer.

 

Though perhaps artist was a better word.

 

It was tempting to just sit and watch as Hal worked. He’d started simply enough, tapping away at his computer, downloading documents and sifting through folders of images and files, usually too swiftly for David to make much sense of them. Eventually, perhaps _inevitably,_ whatever was tucked away on that hard drive began to seep out into the real world, small, harried figures scratched out with no care for the embossed crest of the hotel kind enough to provide them with complementary notepads. But soon the scraps of paper became inadequate, and David found himself tasked with finding not only paper, but pencils, pens, scotch tape, and some particular brand of highlighters, when he caught Hal’s nose wrinkling at the first set he’d produced.

 

In addition to making runs for supplies, David busied himself trying to keep the growing stack of papers, now covering the room’s main table, in some kind of order. His first attempt had garnered a worried and almost defensive look from Hal, but he soon eased back down, as though remembering David had every right to handle his work.

 

Despite the chaos that was slowly encroaching on every available surface in the room, the figures on the pages were all neat and precise, notes made in fine, cramped writing only occasionally smeared by the pressure of a quickly moving hand.

 

Every so often, David would catch Hal leaning away from the table, staring into space, lips slightly parted framing the beginning of any number of words. More often than not the calm would last for mere moments before he returned to frantically typing, inspiration rekindled.

 

It was exhausting to watch, and more than once David sent himself out on an errand for additional supplies, or food, or coffee when the room’s supply eventually ran out, even though a call to the front desk would have fixed that easily enough. He assumed Hal was eating, because the last of the pizza was finally gone, and even the apple he’d set near his computer had disappeared eventually. The orange remained whole and undisturbed. Too much trouble, probably.

 

Occasionally he’d catch Hal mumbling to himself, fragments of grander thoughts.

 

“Gotta make it smaller…”

 

“Communication signal… transmitter…you could boost it...”

 

“Remote operation… Has to be in synch with the operative…”

 

Even after studying the latest batch of Hal’s drawings,  David still struggled to understand just what he was talking about, the designs looking more like a camcorder on wheels than any kind of military technology he’d ever seen. Admittedly, he wasn’t expecting much. If he could bring something half-decent to his upcoming chain of investor meetings, it would be enough to buy him some time. After that, he could go back home, sit down with the team, and send them back to the drawing board until they could come up with something that could be produced under the new budget. Hal just had to help him tread water until then.

 

This didn’t mean the kid wasn’t taking it seriously. By the second day, David was starting to worry he’d actually managed to fry that cartoon addled brain of his. He’d just come up from grabbing some quick take-out for dinner only to find Hal sitting stock still, eyes slightly unfocused, laptop dim.

 

“Everything okay?”

 

Hal didn’t answer, hardly seemed to notice David’s approach until the smell of General Tso’s shook him out of his daze. He looked up suddenly, eyes wide.

 

“I need a duck.”

 

“Sorry what?” David started unpacking the plastic sack, carefully setting the paper boxes far enough away from all of Hal’s work. “I mean we’ve got chicken and beef-”

 

“No, I mean, a rubber duck. For the bath? Do you think the front desk might have one?”

 

Dave glanced towards the bathroom door, then back at the cartons of food, still steaming.

 

“You’re going to take a bath now? Don’t you want to eat first?”

 

Hal shook his head briskly, finally looking down at the table and registering the meal that was laid out before him. A strained rumble escaped his stomach before he could answer, and he sheepishly reached for the nearest pair of chopsticks.

 

“The rubber duck,” he said sometime later, in between mouthfuls of noodles, “is sort of a… debugging tool. When you can’t figure out what the issue with your code is, you explain it to the duck and then ideally you realize where your mistake is.”

 

David raised an eyebrow, but Hal seemed earnest about the merits of the method. “And the duck really helps with that.”

 

“Well. Ducks don’t know anything about programming.”

 

“Granted.”

 

“So I guess the idea is that if you have to explain what you’re doing to someone who has no idea about even the basics, you’re more likely to catch small errors. Um.” Hal prodded a snow pea across his plate. “Sounds kind of silly, now that I say it out loud.”

 

“Maybe a little.” David’s tone was even as ever, but a faint grin was starting to make its way across his face. He began to clear away what was left of their dinner, impressed at how much Hal had been able to put away. Once the table was clean again, he took a seat directly across from Hal, crossing one leg over the other and giving Hal a direct, but open look.

 

“Alright then. Let’s have it.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“...Quack.”

 

* * *

 

 

Truth be told, having a hands-on role in the project’s development had been more engaging than David had expected. Even as Hal cantered through his technobabble and explanation of the finer points of the design, David found himself interested in the science behind the practical technology. He found he even had a few questions that surprised Hal, and sent him right back to his work as he scrambled for a satisfactory answer.

 

At the moment, however, the room was silent. David hadn’t checked his watch in quite a while, feeling that after 2 a.m. there was little good in knowing the time.

 

It was all done, anyway- or at least as Hal had put it “It’s not getting any better than this.” Right now his laptop was silent and dark, enjoying a well deserved rest as the two of them followed suit. Hal had eventually taken that bath and changed into a fresh, if well weathered t-shirt and boxers, collapsing in a heap in the middle of the sofa near where David had quietly been reviewing his presentation.

 

He wrapped a blanket around himself and let his eyes drift closed as he sighed deeply with the satisfaction of a job well done. Feeling quite comfortable, he decided pants were a problem for his future self.

 

“This is all good work,” David said quietly.

 

“Heh.”

 

“And you learned all this stuff from watching cartoons?”

 

Hal opened his eyes and gave David a weary smile, like weak tea lingering at the bottom of a cooling mug.

 

“Well, they certainly helped,” he said at last, slipping a little further down into the cushions.

 

“Your ideas are incredibly innovative,” David continued, giving the papers a fond little tap with the back of his hand. “I’ve been in this business a long time and I’ve never seen the likes. This stealth technology alone could be worth a mint if it’s developed properly.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“I should be thanking you. Even if  we don’t get the funding this time around, or they bring up some other bullshit reason not to sign on with us, no one can say it’s because I’m shit at my job. You really saved me with this.” He gave Hal’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, his hand lingering for just a moment as he thought of what else to say.

 

In the end it was Hal who spoke first.

 

“Right, I just mean- thanks for… trusting me, I guess. Y’know, letting me have a go at it. Um. Believing in me?”

 

David laughed, letting his arm fall over the back of the sofa. “You make it sound so serious.”

 

“It is!” Hal sat up straight, turning to face him, eyes tired but full of intent. He grabbed David’s free hand, staring down at it as he gathered the courage to continue. “You don’t know what it’s like- people take one look at you and make a snap judgement. It’s up to you to prove them right or wrong, and usually you don’t even get the opportunity.”

 

David turned slightly and squeezed Hal’s hand gently with his own. “It’s a rare thing to meet someone that’s willing to give you a chance, even _after_ you’ve made some pretty big mistakes.”

 

“Y-yeah.”

 

“I think I understand that well enough.”

  


Hal looked up at that and found David’s features, still striking and dark were softened by the lateness of the hour, eyes somehow warm even in the chilled hotel room.

 

“You’re a lot more than you appear to be, Hal.”

 

“Oh? Ha, yeah you see a nerd, but surprise! He’s really a super nerd!”

 

“That’s not what I mean.”

 

“Huh?”

 

David’s smile was soft and easy. “It’s not every man that would bust their ass to put something together like this just for the fun of it. The challenge.”

 

“That’s not-” Hal sucked in a quick breath, cold air quickly filling his lungs and settling uneasily in the pit of his stomach. “That’s not the only reason.”

 

He thought David might interrupt him, chiming in with some witty comment or remark, or even raise an eyebrow before ruffling his hair, dismissing the matter altogether. Instead the two sat in the growing silence, eyes searching, lips struggling to form uncertain words.

 

“I-”

 

It was strange to see David like this, caught off-guard as he was. Even with the threat of the collapse of his entire quarter, he’d been full of a sort of righteous anger that was understandable if nothing else. It had been a tangible sort of feeling. Solid.

 

But at the moment, Hal thought the closest thing he’d ever seen to this sort of blatant confusion on the man’s handsome features had been on that first night. When he’d almost-

 

“I should get to bed.” David mumbled at last. “We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

 

“W-we?”

 

“You didn’t think I was going to make a presentation this important on my own, did you?”

 

“I dunno, I guess I just thought you’d have assistants for that or something.” Hal looked away, scratching absently at the shoulder of his shirt as he followed David up from the sofa, straightening out the blanket around his shoulders before getting ready to lie down.

 

“Can’t think of anyone better to have by my side than the guy who designed the thing,” David smiled, and placed a gentle hand on his back, allowing it to linger for just a moment.

 

“That’s a good point,” Hal nodded, still lost in his own thoughts.

  
  


...Just when had David pulled him close?

  


Turning slightly, Hal could see his eyes were closed, lips tightly pursed with the strain of remaining silent. His own heart was beating hard in his chest, those earlier lungfuls of air having left him now, empty and wanting. Raising his head a little more, Hal decided to take a chance, speaking for the both of them- in a way.

 

When David pulled back, Hal thought for an instant he might have made a mistake- his greatest to date. But there was little shock in David’s eyes, and what surprise was there soon gave way to a hopeful questioning, that Hal could bear that for only a second or two. He leaned further into the embrace and felt his shoulders slip down as a now familiar hand made its way into his hair.

 

A longer silence passed between them, this one easier than the last, as Hal struggled to quiet the throbbing of his pulse echoing in his ears and focus instead on the whisper of David’s lips pressing softly at the crown of his head. He thought perhaps he’d fallen victim to the cold at last, only to realize the arms around him were shaking.

 

“...bed.” David murmured softly at the edge of his ear. “We can talk more later.”

 

Hal, unwilling to leave the warmth of his embrace, followed David quietly into the dark.

 

* * *

 

 

David woke to the twin wailing of his alarm and the front desk’s wake-up call just as the sun was making itself known in the sky. He reached over, picking up the receiver and slamming it down with little ceremony. He groaned as he pulled himself up, stretching muscles that still had a long way to go before being anything like rested. Cohesive thoughts still far from his grasp, he was limited to only the most rudimentary list of basics.

 

_Coffee. Shower._

 

_Bed._

 

_...Hal._

 

He turned abruptly, blearily staring down at the bed, sheets tangled, but blank and white. And empty.

 

Stumbling into the main room, he found it just the same. His folders and case still neatly packed and waiting on the table, but no cold cups of coffee or crumpled wrappers scattered about like forgotten children, no wrinkled hoodie draped over the back of the chair.

 

Hal was gone.

 


	7. Chapter 7

The cardboard gave ever so slightly under Hal’s fingers, bowing as he pressed down long enough to snap clear tape over its seam before easing back into its proper shape. There was still a long way to go, but the number of boxes outnumbered the piles of clothing, textbooks and plastic models left to pack away. He sighed, surveying his emptied room before lifting the box and placing it with its brothers near the front door. 

 

Two weeks ago this was his apartment. His home. Today it was a few box loads away from being another vacant space. An empty shell waiting for its next occupant.

 

“Maybe not a crab… but another hermit at least…”

 

Returning home wasn’t ever part of the plan for the weeks following the receipt of his doctorate. Then again, neither was an unplanned trip to Philadelphia. But Hal had found himself unable to focus on anything resembling job hunting (or more accurately, sifting through the offers from companies or post-doctorate programs that had gotten a hold of some of his papers.) He’d stared at the envelopes when they’d arrived, but none of them seemed like they were for him; the neatly printed name looking up at him felt nothing like his own. 

 

Logically he knew getting a job was the next step, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d reached the end of the track somehow, wholly unprepared for what came next. The only thing he could think to do was retreat and regroup. 

 

After all, Hal had never been one for rash decision making. The one time he had been the least bit impulsive he’d ended up in a strange city, in another man’s bed, even. The second time… well he was back in Boston now, after all. 

 

He was pulled from his quiet musing by a knock at the door and cursed under his breath as he scrambled for the knob. The moving van wasn’t meant to arrive for another day- but he supposed he could have put the wrong date on the forms. Everything had happened so  _ fast. _

 

The last thing he expected to see when he opened the door was a familiar face.

 

It took Hal a shameful few seconds to recognize him. He wasn’t entirely convinced he hadn’t dreamed that week and everything- the people, the room, even the work.

 

And David.

 

It was the one face that had lingered in his his hazy and restless sleep. The one he’d sworn he’d seen amidst the grocery store checkout lines or in far booths at his burger place of choice. Sharp and dark and soft and weary illuminated only by the light of the television, or the glow of a sports car dash...

  
  


There was nowhere to sit inside the apartment. What was left of the furniture was covered in boxes or piles of laundry yet to be sorted into piles of “keep” and “donate” or “burn so there is no evidence I ever liked that show now that it’s gone off the rails, honestly would it kill them to follow the manga for a change”. Nevertheless, Hall pulled the door open and let David inside.

 

The two ended up on the balcony, a space mostly untouched during Hal’s habitation, aside from the one time he thought he might like a houseplant before promptly forgetting it two weeks later. Now a single cracked plastic pot was all the only evidence that remained.

 

The sun had only just dipped behind the tops of the neighboring buildings, slivers of light matching the embers of David’s cigarette, even as he dragged it against the chipping paint of the porch railing. His fingers tapped at the edges of the box, denting the thin cardboard and Hal wondered if he might light another, if only to avoid speaking. Of course, David never behaved quite the way he thought he would.

 

“Hal Emmerich. PhD.” He said at last. “You failed to mention that.”

 

“O-oh,” Hal answered quietly, staring out at the darkening silhouettes of the city. “Only just. It’s all still pretty new, I suppose.”

 

“Would have made tracking you down a hell of a lot easier. Didn’t have a lot to go on, I was checking out junior colleges, even fucking  _ high schools _ even though that had me breaking out in a cold sweat when I thought too hard about it.” He shook his head. “If I’d started by digging around graduate schools I’d have found you a lot sooner. Would have been here weeks ago.”

 

“I’m...sorry?” A momentary glance at David revealed he was doing his best not to catch Hal’s eyes, but the look on his face was one he was well acquainted with. Not anger but disappointment. “I guess it… it didn’t seem like… well just what are you doing here, anyway?”

 

_ That _ got David’s attention, and his head turned to face him slowly, a stone door sliding into place. A second cigarette rolled and twisted between his fingers unlit, its paper in danger of coming unfurled. 

 

“It was a shock. Finding you gone.”

 

Hal’s lips twitched, but no words found him.

 

“Thought we had a good thing going. Thought you were _ invested, _ ” he added.

 

David slipped the cigarette into the corner of his mouth, turning to lean against the railing in one swift motion that was equal parts cool and self possessed- shades closer to the man Hal had met on that first night.

“The presentation went fine, in case you were wondering- stumbled a little bit at the beginning. I kept looking to the back of the room, thinking at any moment you were going to burst in with coffees and a stupid sheepish grin on your face, like a kid who overslept on exam day.”

 

Hal’s eyes widened and he gave up any pretense in favor of staring straight at David. Trembling hands found their way through his hair, pausing as he pressed the pads of his fingertips at the base of his neck.

 

“You- you gave the presentation?” 

 

David snorted. “Of course I did. Those were all solid ideas, Hal.  _ Good _ ideas. Good designs. I had a lot of faith in them. And the mind behind them all.” He exhaled a tight stream of air, dragging it between his lips and teeth. “I might have been a little shaky on some of the Q and A, but I’m pretty proud of how I managed. Probably all due to the fact that the ‘brain’ bothered to explain it all to me for a change.” 

 

“I’m sorry. For leaving like that. Didn’t even leave a note to explain. I’m not sure I could have anyway, but I…” His shoulders sagged, head dropping in defeat. “I’m glad you were able to buy yourself a little time. Now you have some breathing space until you have to move on to the next project.”

 

“Move on?”

 

Hal looked up to David’s face to see his eyebrow raised, lips parted with the remnant of his echoed question.

 

“Hal, there is no ‘moving on’. The suits were impressed, they expect us to move forward with plans for the MK II. I’m supposed to be assembling a team as we speak.”

 

“Then what are you doing here?”

 

David gave a short bark of laughter. “For a smart guy, you can be a real idiot, you know that Hal?” The other man’s stunned silence spurred him on. “The project needs a team leader. Who better than the genius that designed the thing in the first place. And the higher ups at the office really want to meet you as well. That is, assuming you’d be interested in relocating to New York.” 

 

He cast a glance through the sliding glass door leading back into the apartment and its many boxes. 

 

“That is, assuming you don’t already have plans. A better offer.” he sighed. “Guess I wasn’t quick enough. Let you slip through my fingers. Not my first mistake. Sure it won’t be my last.”

 

“You didn’t!” The sudden outburst was enough to make David’s hands jolt, causing his thumb to miss its mark on the flint wheel of his lighter.

 

“David, you didn’t do anything wrong. It… it was me. I’m the one who always gets it wrong. I don’t know how to handle people, I guess. Don’t know how to work with anything that isn’t plastic or steel. Every time I do I make a mess of things, end up having to leave and… and I always end up leaving people worse off when I go.” It was more warning than explanation. 

 

“I don’t think that’s true. Not from what I’ve seen, anyway.”

 

The sky was almost lost in the haze as its last swathes of red and purple gave way to inky blue, but the stars remained yet unseen. 

 

“I…” Hal began, “I don’t know where I would stay. I don’t know anyone in the city or have a place lined up. I know how expensive it is to rent even a small apartment.”

 

“I assumed you’d be moving in with me.”

 

“Wh-what?”

 

David laughed, a deeper rumbling sound born of humor rather than dismissal. “I’m kidding, Hal. The company would provide you with a relocation stipend and they have an apartment finding service for new employees. You wouldn’t be the first person to make a sudden move to come onboard.” 

 

He fidgeted with the lighter in his hands a little more, bringing forth a miniscule flame before letting it burn out a few times before speaking again.

 

“And if- if you don’t want to see me again, you don’t have to. Just because I brought your work to the company, it promises to be a lucrative enough project that they won’t let it go even if I ask to be transferred off of it.”

 

Arms crossed in front of his head, head shaking, Hal mumbled a soft, “No.”

 

“Alright.” The sharp snap of metal made Hal look up just as David tucked the lighter away in his pocket. “I get it. There’s a lot of… complications. Between us. Which is on me, Hal. Let me make that clear. It’s why I don’t usually let things get personal, try to keep business and pleasure separate.” He huffed, letting a weak grin cross his features as he reached for the door. “Well, try to anyway. We know how well that went the last time.”

 

The fingers suddenly tugging at his sleeve were just as quick to leave. 

 

“I don’t want you off the project, David,” Hal said quietly. “Actually- having you at the helm is sort of… not open for negotiation if I’m going to come onboard. Like I said, I… I’m not too good with people. It would be nice if I already knew someone involved.”

 

“So you are interested, then?”

 

It was a few seconds before Hal found the courage to nod, but the look on his face gave way to no uncertainty. 

 

“It… it might be a few weeks before I can find a place of my own. My lease is already up here. I was actually going… back home. Didn’t really have much of a plan.”

 

“I might not bring that up when you’re negotiating your salary.”

 

A few seconds of silence passed with Hal making no move other than waving his hand blindly to push errant strands of hair from his face, but when David caught sight of his lips again they were turned up in a broad smile. 

 

“I suppose there’s a company policy regarding fraternization between colleagues.”

 

The corners of David’s lips twitched in response. “There is, it’s along the same lines as the one regarding picking up potential employees from street corners.”

 

“O-oh…” Hal faltered.

 

David turned away from the door, putting his chest just inches away from Hal’s own.

 

“Hal, I…” he started, before sighing and letting his sly grin melt into a tired smile. “There’s the company business and then there’s _ our _ business. The two don’t have anything to do with each other. Well, almost nothing. Nothing anyone else needs to know about at least.” 

 

Hal hoped his sigh didn’t sound _ too _ terribly relieved. “So, you really want to bring me onboard as… as an engineer, a designer? A… a..”

 

“A partner.”

 

“A partner?” Hal echoed, catching the last fragments of sunlight still glowing in David’s eyes. 

 

“I like the sound of that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody! I just want to thank you so much to everyone who left comments on this story, even months after the last update. Even though I had the last chunk of the plot hashed out for quite some time, I struggled with putting into "real" words- and your encouragement has meant so much to me, and helped me finally finish this. As with so many projects of mine, this started almost as a joke and took on a life of its own, so I'm so happy that it managed to find an audience with you all. <3


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